Believe in the Magic of Christmas

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!!

We received one of the best gifts ever for Christmas Krista Lund my super talented photographer friend gave me/us the wonderful gift of a mini photo shoot just in time for Christmas Cards.... I love these pictures. Thank you Krista! You inspire me to learn how to be a creative mommy creating and capturing memories! I am so proud to call you my friend and thank you so much for these gorgeous pictures! xoxo

Gingerbread house

The other night {december 2nd} Ashlyn, Daddy & I made our Gingerbread house! We all worked together to make it happen....It was a fun evening. Love hang out nights like these! So Blessed! xoxo

started with the bought house. saw a cookie cutter set a michael's that i have my eye on. thinking next year we will make homemade gingerbread...

ashlyn shaking the coconut... lets see what color it will turn?!?!

GREEN! 

ashlyn & i frosting the roof...

she did such a great job! 

ash placed all the gumdrops all by herself! She is amazing! I'm so in love! 

look at her concentration! 

taking a candy break! 

then grandma and grandpa came home so we were able to get a picture with all three of us! 

making her snowman for the front yard

so pretty~!

all the angles! 

sorry blurry...

posing with her gingerbread house! 

I have to admit she has actually left it along for the most part... not many pieces eaten yet... haha!

Merry Christmas!

Love all the Christmas festivities! Cant wait to post our pictures from last night & 

the family parties from this weekend! 

Thanksgiving Turkey Cards

I just realized that this post did not get posted... bummer.... It was scheduled for Thanksgiving Day! 

Happy Turkey Day!

Love, Our Little Turkey's

Ashlyn & Colton

Here are the Thanksgiving Cards that we made for the Grandma's & Grandpa's....

 nice booger face for colton... 

he had just brown paint cause i knew it would be tough to have colored finger feathers

fake smile in this shot but ashlyn had a great time and really enjoyed it once i told her we were done and she could fingerpaint

mommy the referee during tree trimming

tonight michelene and i decided we were going to decorate the christmas tree with the kiddos. we thought we had it all planned out. we bought some of those unbreakable bulbs at target over the weekend to put on the bottom of the tree{ps these are probably the best invention ever!} we put a table cloth over the nice coffee table... and started... well lets just say... 

we laughed a lot &

smiled through the craziness.

ash was a doll but wanted to touch every single ornament and move them several times each. 

she loved eric's first baby ornament the best {it was adorable and a memory i will remember forever}
i was filming at the time so there is no snap shot. i still need to learn how to create pictures from my videos. there is a super sweet part with both kiddos and it would make a great picture. 

colton was throwing the unbreakable bulbs all over the place. seriously all over and swiping them off the table... yelling "ball" "ball" so funny we had to laugh. then he started placing the bulbs on the tree. so let me explain cause we all know a 15 month old don't typically decorate christmas trees right? well he would place the bulb gently on the branch, no hook just straight on the branch. once it was on the branch he would look up at me. so proud. almost like "mom take a picture" so adorable. so sweet.  

then...he started yanking them off and it started pulling the tree. mike and i quickly decided that we should clean up and wire the tree tomorrow before we finished or this tree might end up ON colton. so tomorrow there will be a wiring party and then i'm sure some more decorating. maybe at 8:30 once colton goes to bed...haha! 

either way we enjoyed the special time decorating grandma and papa's tree even if it was short lived. 

see check out the blurry pics.. from coltons fast moving arms... 

 couldn't decide which one...

looking at the camera

 or teeth out... 

wish i knew photoshop to be able to fix these pictures 

and make them look good. 

a class might need to happen... ill pay... who wants to teach me! 

 photo by ashlyn

she is getting pretty good. she might be my only hope to appear on my blog. i love my eric but he does not grab the camera enough to get me in shots...

S-A-N-T-A

there was a jolly, jolly man and Santa was his name-o

S-A-N-T-A, S-A-N-T-A, S-A-N-T-A 

and Santa was his name-o

these are the words to one of Ashlyn's christmas program songs I walked in on them practicing today in her classroom. So fun. So adorable.

very leading cause... Tonight we went to see Santa!

It was perfect. So much better than I was anticipating. My kids rocked it! 

We walked up and Santa was waving to the kids. Ashlyn instantly grabs for Eric's leg. Hiding her face. We scoop both kids up and start talking to Santa all together. Santa asked Eric and I to sit down and take a family picture. {we decided to as a back up if we could not get the kids to take one... but as you'll see we did not need to buy it} Then we got off and sat the kids down! They were perfect. Colton wouldn't smile for the camera. But he was smiling when Santa asked him to give him a hi-five! They both sat there for like 3 minutes...the best part about going early in the month! Just talking away. I wish I could have gotten video! 

After we left the area I instantly pulled out my camera and video-ed. I asked Ashlyn who she met. And what she asked for. "Candy" was still her response. So then later she said "Oh Mommy and Starbucks!" We laughed and said seriously our 2 year old just asked for Starbucks! Adorable but just an insight for what is to come...she is 2 going on 20... pray for me!   

{my scanner is not hooked up at this time so this is a picture of a picture, sorry}

 Ashlyn asked Santa for "Candy"

Colt just gave a hi-five!

Then once we got home. We ate our yummy Amici's pizza and salad...while watching Elf. It was the only Christmas Movie on tv. And our kitchen table was filled with boxes of Ornaments. Ready to decorate the tree... thats next! 

traditions

I love traditions... I love having my own little family to make, create new and recreate old traditions the way Eric and I want them to be for our family. Family traditions are the glue that holds your family together. Creating memories is one of the most important things to me. I believe these memories can and will last a lifetime through stories, laughter, and photos with me as their mom. 

Everyone who knows us knows how CRAZY we are about the holidays... Christmas specifically. Well giving our living situation. {what a positive one it is} But since we are still not in our own house... we are going to have to manipulate a few traditions this year and teach Grandma and Papa a few of our special Christmas Magic tricks. During the holiday time and especially after Thanksgiving we like to include at least one Christmas activity each day. That is very easy since one of our traditions are to read christmas books under the tree each night...more on that in another post... However we just got our tree tonight and the lights are not up yet... This  year we started our Christmas Events by doing this...

Eric and I rented Santa Paws. A Disney Christmas Movie. We put Colton to bed and Eric, Ashlyn and I snuggled together in bed, eating a See's Sucker...Eric and Ash Chocolate and me Butterscotch. We watched the movie and LOVED every moment. Several times during the movie Eric and I would look at each other and look at Ash's love and magic in her eyes. We both started to tear up. It was amazing how our love for this beautiful season can be embraced by our two year old. The movie is fun and has a wonderful songs that I can not get out of my head. 

"I believe In Christmas. I believe In Love..." Awe over and over.... Me and Ash keep just playing that part of the movie! So fun! 

 daddy & ashlyn "santa paws" movie night november 24th, 2010

I LOVE CHRISTMAS MAGIC! IT IS AMAZING! 

Family traditions tie love strings around your family... 

Gratitude... Being thankful

Well we are just about to Thanksgiving and I have been thinking a lot about what I have to be thankful for. I have so much to be thankful for yet I find my way of complaining about something or other daily. I wish that were not true... so instead of not liking something that I do and not acting on it. I have decided to FOCUS on making a change. I am using this month of Gratitude as a jumping of point. So here is my first I am Thankful post....hopefully I get to a few more...hehe....

{I am Thankful for my job @ my mom's learning center, Little Mud Puddles}

for so many reasons... but especially for this....

I was walking by Ashlyn's classroom november 9th and noticed that they were making Pizza. I saw the joy and excitement in her eyes. So I ran to my purse, grabbed my camera and into her class. 

I am thankful that I am able to walk into Ashlyn's classroom in the middle of my work day. Sometime right before I serve lunch I run outside to snag a hug from my little peanut. I love being around the environment most parents don't get to see... I love being a part of most of her school experiences. This is the perfect balance to my dream of being a stay at home mom. So here are a few of the pic's I captured. 

This project was more about the process, discussion and language. I should have taken video...they were talking about the vegetables that they eat and cook at home. Then once I brought the pizza back cooked... and they ate it for snack. Oh my were they proud to have made (assembled) their snack all on their own!

 how cute are kayla & ashlyn always next to each other... such great friends~

 kayla stealing some cheese

 

 yummo~

Me: "Is it yummy Ashie? "

Ashlyn: "Yes mommy. I like peezza when I make it. It's more yummy! mmmmmm"

Seriously this child cracks me up! : ) 

love moments like these...

I love moments like these where I can capture the relationship between
Ashlyn and Colton. 

These moments are happening more often but I am learning to relish in the moment and enjoy it without always thinking I need to run for the camera. {although who am I kidding the camera is usually by my side almost all the time} Ash & Colt are 18 months apart. I love this age difference, although it keeps me on my toes and very busy. 

See this is what happened next... sweet and cuddly quickly
turn into love wrestling...

I was 3 years older than my brother Michael. We are very close and I cherish our relationship so much. Because of when our birthdays fell we never attended high school together. Although that was a blessing in disguise, I then wished that we would have. So I knew when we had children I wanted them to be closer in age....Dreams really do come true! So in love with Life! 

So I mentioned that Michael and I did not go to high school together and that is was a BLESSING in DISGUISE... Let me just remises and remind you why.... I went to Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward. Michael went to Washington in Fremont. Michael dated a girl named Ashley Wittmer. Michael & Ashley tried and tried to get me to meet this boy named Eric Wittmer. Well I finally gave in... Eric and I met. Spend a week in Yosemite camping with our families {a trip that was planned before Eric and I were even thought of} First kiss under the stars in Yosemite {both of our favorite places} A hike to Half -Dome with Michael, Ken {my now FIL} Eric and I. A few Rook games later and been together ever since. Dated for four years before getting officially engaged. Although we were seriously committed way before then... I knew the first week we were together he was going to be My Husband, My Everything. I became Mrs. Wittmer June 24, 2006. The BEST day of my life! Had our beautiful Ashlyn Ra Marie March 10, 2008. Another BEST day of my life. Had our son Colton Michael Kenneth September 2, 2009. Yep you guessed it Another BEST day of my life! Awe... what a love story. There have been bumps and bruises on the way but filled with a whole lot of love, laughter and memories that I hope to never forget! That was fun... thanks blog journal... xoxo